Second attempt. I tried to go last night and it was sold out. Less because the masses were there than because all the big screens have been taken up with That new franchise film and the umpteenth week of the “Ok but not all that” Oscar winner
And to be honest i wasn’t expecting more than an average tv film that you’d watch on a Sunday afternoon where Good triumphs over Evil and you end up feeling a little better about yourself. And while there was quite a bit of that (not least the schmaltzy score) it was way better than I was expected
First because Ruth Bader Ginsburg wasn’t portrayed as a saint but as someone who was often irritable and smug and not a great mother (special props to the actress who played her bolshie daughter who wasn’t having any of that)
Secondly the film argues that the landmark court case winning limited equal rights for women was primarily won not by clever lawyers but by the time being right. Now i have a minor quibble that i think the film leaves an argument open as to whether this was because of washing machines or the protests (against discrimination but also against the Vietnam war) that the daughter and many others were attending, but the fact that it offers us this choice of interpretations is startling.
And of course the format is quite conservative and its no groundbreaking cinema, but it was way better than anything i was expecting
CinePhil 